A two-disc set from 2000, Anthology: Through the Years features some of the all-time greatest songs from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, including "American Girl," "Free Fallin'," and "Runnin' Down a Dream."

Album Notes and Credits

Notes & Personnel Info

ANTHOLOGY: THROUGH THE YEARS includes the previously unreleased "Surrender" and "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with Stevie Nicks).

Neatly fitting in between 1993's GREATEST HITS and the 5-CD PLAYBACK box set that came out two years later, this 34-track collection is a chronological tour of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' MCA Records material. The consistent quality found throughout this two-CD set that's bookended by the sinister-sounding "Breakdown" and chiming "Surrender"(a song Petty wrote in the '70s but didn't get around to recording until August 2000) boggles the mind.

Tight playing and a palpable sense of passion from the four-piece Heartbreakers transform songs like "Even the Losers", "Rebels" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance" into rock & roll manna. Elsewhere, this Floridian singer-songwriter's sharp eye for pop culture ("Jammin' Me") and storytelling mastery ("Into the Great Wide Open," "Two Gunslingers") become pleasantly recurring characteristics. The inclusion of a scorching live version of the Byrds' "So You Wanna Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star" show Petty and company to be as potent on stage as in the studio. By the end of this musical tour it's hard to argue with the lofty statement Cameron Crowe makes in his liner notes calling Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers "...the greatest and most consistent American band of the last twenty-five years..."

Musical Guests

Stevie Nicks

George Harrison

Jeff Lynne

David A. Stewart

The Bangles

Artist Overview

With chiming Rickenbacker guitars and a voice that echoed both Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers, were one of the most exciting bands to emerge from America during the mid-'70s, marking a return to the virtues of classic rock & roll on a rock scene dominated by heavy metal and progressive bands. They continued to enjoy commercial success in the '80s, thanks in part to a series of stunning videos that found popularity on the emerging MTV. In 1988, Petty joined Jeff Lynne, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, and Bob Dylan in the highly successful Traveling Wilburys supergroup. The following year Petty released the solo Full Moon Fever, containing the sublime Top Ten hit "Free Fallin'," before rejoining the Heartbreakers for Into the Great Wide Open in 1991. Petty has since combined solo work, notably 1994's beautiful Wildflowers acoustic set, with band projects. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Uncut (2/01, p.80) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...A century of great American music from a great American institution..."

Bio

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Not many artists can match Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' long record of commercial success along with a simultaneous period of creative growth and critical acclaim.

In April 1996, Petty received UCLA's George & Ira Gershwin Award For Lifetime Musical Achievement. Previous recipients of the university's award include Ray Charles and Ella Fitzgerald. Petty was the first artist of the rock era to earn this distinction. "I may not own any George and Ira Gershwin records," said Petty at the ceremony, "but I'm honored to be here and I want to thank my fans for showing up at my concerts from time to time."

In 1999, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers received their own star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, an honor that acknowledges both their musical achievements and their humanitarian involvement with such organizations as Greenpeace, the National Veteran's Foundation, USA Harvest, Rock & Wrap It Up, and AmFAR (the American Foundation for AIDS Research).

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers--hailing from Gainesville, Florida before officially forming in Los Angeles--kicked the musical doldrums of the mid-'70s in the face with their 1976 self-titled debut album. It featured a stripped-down-but-accomplished brand of rock that blended jumpy rhythm & blues rhythms, ringing guitars and keyboards, over which Petty grabbed listeners by their throats with his disarmingly blunt lyrics and extremely direct vocal style. Still, it took America a full year to catch up to the album.

1978's follow up, You're Gonna Get It!, proved the debut album's intensity was no fluke. Marking the band's first gold album, it featured the singles "Listen to Her Heart" and "I Need to Know." Success followed success (including Tom's debut solo album and his appearances as a member of The Traveling Wilbury's, as well as more hits with The Heartbreakers).